Driver Plows Into Crowd in Venice Beach, Killing Newlywed

Driver Plows Into Crowd in Venice Beach, Killing Newlywed

America continues to be shocked by the dramatic footage of a hit-and-run driver plowing into unsuspecting tourists on Los Angeles' crowded Venice boardwalk, killing a woman on her honeymoon.

Looking closely at the surveillance video, the driver can be seen hitting a mannequin, then mowing down 12 innocent people who never had a chance to run. Eyewitnesses say the driver was out for blood.

"He just took off and was going about 40 or 50 mph," said one witness.

Another witness said, "It was pretty chaotic. I jumped out of the way."

Moments before, the guy can be seen on video surveillance getting out of his car, pacing back and forth. Then, he got in the car and took off like a drag racer.

Alice Gruppioni, the heiress to an Italian soccer empire and her husband, Christian were on their American honeymoon strolling the boardwalk when the monster began his bloody rampage. The 32-year-old newlywed was killed, dying in her husband's arms. He says he is devastated and destroyed beyond belief.

The Venice boardwalk is one of Los Angeles' top tourist attractions. Today, there's a makeshift memorial with cards and flowers. People who regularly walk there say it was a tragedy waiting to happen. Every day at least 20 cars mistakenly drive down the pedestrian-only part of the boardwalk thinking it's another street.

But cops say what happened this weekend was no mistake. The driver purposely aimed his car at tourists. One official is calling him a homicidal maniac.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin is outraged at what happened and is demanding the city install additional barriers on the boardwalk so something like this never happens again.

"As far as I'm concerned, this was an aggressive, violent assault by a sick and dangerous mind," said Bonin. "A lot of the measures we're looking at now are actually meant more to prevent the accident. It's hard to prevent somebody who's determined to cause harm."

The driver, a transient named Nathan Campbell later turned himself in and cops booked him on suspicion of murder. Campbell is being held on $1 million bail. They say they have no motive for why he went on his path of deadly destruction.